Observer-based Time-varying Backstepping Control for Parrot’s AR.Drone 2.0

Abstract

This paper studies the 3D trajectory tracking for the quadrotor commercial prototype AR.Drone 2.0 of the French company Parrot. The proposed control strategy is designed using a time-varying version of the backstepping technique. For the implementation of the control law, it is assumed that only the position and orientation of the AR.Drone are known; linear and angular velocities of the AR.Drone are estimated using suitable Luenberger observers. The proposed control strategy allows an AR.Drone 2.0 to converge asymptotically to a predetermined flight trajectory. The theoretical results are validated through real-time experiments.